


Much needed comfort

by grandaa28



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Comfort, Cuddle Pile, Gen, Gentron Week 2020, Literal Sleeping Together, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25694695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grandaa28/pseuds/grandaa28
Summary: Day 1 of gentron week: Cuddle pile and literal sleeping together.Allura was always taking care of the team. Whenever they needed it she gave them the much needed comfort.But she never gets one for herself.Until she does.Or, five times Allura took care of each paladin and one time they took care of her.
Relationships: Allura & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Allura (Voltron) & Everyone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16
Collections: Gentronweek





	Much needed comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I wrote something! And I'm not late!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy the fic!

Allura was on her way to her room as it was already past the reasonable time for bed. Recently the castle hadn't stayed on a particular planet long enough for them to adjust to it's day and night cycle, so they've settled to using Altea's time. Of all the things she needed to adjust to, living with humans, saving planets, the universe's changes the last thousand years, not having any other Altean except Coran and herself, a different day and night cycle wasn't amongst them.

Walking in the castle halls always brought up memories with her father and the original paladins, like the castle itself was trying to mock her for sleeping through the destruction of everything she knew and had grown up with. Knowing she had been in a pod, safe and unbothered while her people, her family were being killed off made her clench her fists from all the anger and unfairness she was feeling. The knowledge that she would never see her father or her planet ever again brought tears to her eyes, making her lower her head and pause on her path.

The sound of metal clashing against metal made her snap her head in front of her. It was coming from the training room. Allura wiped the tears from her eyes before heading that way. It was certainly one of the paladins and she didn't want any one of them to see her cry. She was a princess and she must be strong for her people, and now the paladins were her people. They couldn't see her being weak.

Entering the training room Allura saw Keith battling with the bot. He was panting slightly and sweat was running down his face. When he defeated the bot Allura decided to make her presence known before he could continue on another level. She made him finish his training and go to bed.

This made her want to check on the other paladins. Usually they all went to sleep at a reasonable time, especially if they've had a hard battle with the galra before, but sometimes they stayed awake extremely late. Better make sure they weren't doing the latter.

After seeing Keith had returned to his room she started checking on the others. Hunk was already asleep and Lance was in the middle of his nighttime skincare routine which meant he would be in bed soon.

She entered Pidge's room next.

The lights were turned off, which made the light of the laptop screen appear ten times brighter. The same light illuminated a small face, which was framed by light brown hair, and big round glasses making it hard to see the eyes behind them.

It was hard to see anything else because of the darkness, but she was sure most of the floor couldn't be seen because of gadgets, clothes and whatever else the green paladin had in her room. Even the bed was in complete chaos, tangled blankets and sheets.

The sounds of fingers clicking on keyboard buttons had little pauses between each one and they didn't stop when Allura knocked on a wall to get the other girl's attention.

"Pidge."

She didn't get a response. 

Going further in the room she called her name again. This time she only received a questioning hum.

"Pidge please look at me!"

Finally, Pidge turned her head away from the screen. Now Allura could see dark circles under her brown eyes and her eyelids looked like they would drop any moment.

"It's really late and you look tired. You should get some rest," Allura advised gently.

Pidge grunted, "I don't need rest.", and continued working on her laptop.

Allura stepped closer, getting irritated that Pidge wasn't listening, "I'm sure whatever you're doing can wait until tomorrow."

"No, it CAN'T!" Pidge snapped.

Allura was taken by surprise. She was ready to argue with her, but was interrupted when Pidge continued talking.

"I can't sleep when I'm so close to maybe finding where my family is!" she was talking fast, the same speed she was typing on the keyboard. Her eyes were yet again glued to the screen, but her focus wasn't on what was on it. "I know they're somewhere out there! They must be! I must find them!"

Her voice was getting hoarse, but she still continued talking, like she couldn't stop. "They're the most important people in my life. They're everything to me." Her fingers stopped typing; her hands fell limply next to her legs and her eyes were wide staring at one point in front of her, but it looked like she wasn't seeing the screen, or her room or Allura, but something only she could see.

"I can't think-" she hiccuped, "-can't think what will happen if- if…… if I'm too late!" She blinked a few times and sniffed.

Allura felt bad that she was the one to witness her like this. Pidge may not be entirely comfortable baring her feelings like this and to someone that she's not close to. Lance and Hunk would have been better companions to her at this moment.

Despite that Allura knew she had to comfort her. After all, she knew the pain of losing one's family.

So she went to the bed where Pidge was sitting cross-legged and took the laptop from her lap. She put it on the desk and came back to sit next to the girl. Putting an arm around her shoulders Allura easily pulled Pidge closer to her. Pidge even brought her arms around the princess and latched onto her.

"Don't think like that," Allura started talking, gently, "I know what you're going through. I've lost my father too, but yours might still be out there," at this she felt the other's arms tighten and so she corrected herself,"-yours is definitely out there."

Allura tried to focus on Pidge and her family, but her mind would stray to her father and how he is truly gone. Whatever she tried to do, she could never bring him back. Pidge herself had even reminded her of that.

She had accepted the truth. 

However Pidge had hope and Allura would do anything not to crush it.

"I know you would do anything to find him and your brother. And you will, but you need to take care of yourself. Because if you don't, you may not be able to continue your search."

The silence that followed amplified Pidge's loud breaths and sniffles.

She wasn't sure if she should ask this, but she spoke quietly anyway, "When I was younger and I got upset my father used to play with my hair or just brush it. Do you want me to do that?"

Pidge sniffed and nodded.

When she tried to get up to get a hairbrush the arms around her waist tightened their hold, so she decided against it. Instead she used only her fingers to brush Pidge's short, wild hair. She was able to gently go through the knots without tugging too much.

The most pleasant thing about a hairbrush going through her hair was the bristles scrapping gently on her head. Using her long nails Allura hoped to achieve the same effect. When the body next to her relaxed and the breaths became quieter and the sniffles stopped Allura counted that as a success.

"Are you better now?"

"Yeah. And this is nice." Pidge said, slurring her words a little.

Allura smiled, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Soon Allura wanted to try braiding the short hair. Unsurprisingly it turned out to be a challenge.

"Your hair is, in a way, like you. Short, cute and doesn't want to listen to what others are telling you to do."

When she didn't get a response she looked down and saw the girl sleeping. Her glasses were weirdly placed on her head, her mouth was open letting drool fall out of it and her neck was craned in a way that would surely give her a pain in the morning.

Allura slowly got up. She took Pidge's glasses, put them next to the laptop on the desk, put her head on the pillow and finally put a blanket over her.

The lights were already off, so she just quietly exited the green paladin's room.

She leaned back on a wall in the hall and sighed, letting her shoulders release the tension in them. She was glad that she managed to help Pidge and bring her some comfort, but she was really tired and bringing up the fact that she could do nothing to get more time with her father wasn't what she needed. It was a heavy truth she carried in her heart.

Pushing herself off the wall she passed Keith's room and entered Shiro's to see he was asleep. With the knowledge all of the paladins were in bed and sleeping she went to her room to do the same.

*****

After waking from an unpleasant dream Allura couldn't go to sleep because of hunger. Eating in the middle of the night or right before bed wasn’t the best idea, but she didn’t do it often, so she didn't worry much about it.

Before she entered the kitchen she noticed the lights were on, and when she did enter, she saw Hunk bending down and putting something in the oven. She knocked on the wall to make her presence known, at which Hunk jumped and turned around.

“You scared me, Allura.”

“I apologise.” she came closer to him, “Why are you awake?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck, “I started thinking about something and I couldn’t stop my mind from coming up with thoughts. So I thought I should bake some cookies,”-he pointed at the oven-”to take my mind off of things, you know.” he finished and then asked “Why are you up so late?”

“I woke up and I got hungry," she simply answered, which was the truth even if it wasn't the whole truth.

Hunk hummed in understanding. “If you wait a minute or two you can get some of my cookies if you want.”

“I’d love to!” Allura said excitedly. She may not understand or like a lot of Earth’s culture and food, but Hunk’s cookies were excellent and a real wonderland for her taste buds.

Once Hunk took the cookies out of the oven and were cooled down enough not to burn her tongue she started eating them in an unnatural speed. With her mouth full of cookies she barely managed to tell Hunk how much she loved them.

If any royal tutor or member of the royal family could see her now they would turn up their noses in disgust and would probably scold her for not eating properly like a princess, but she couldn’t help herself. The cookies were amazing! Plus, Hunk didn’t seem to mind.

Actually Hunk didn’t seem like he noticed her much. He stared at the plate, which was almost empty, in front of him while slowly munching on a cookie.

Managing to swallow the food she had uncontrollably stuffed in her mouth, Allura put a hand on Hunk’s arm and asked “Hunk, what’s wrong?”

He looked up at her and shrugged, “It’s nothing really.”

“I’m sure it isn’t nothing. You clearly look troubled.”

He sighed and turned his gaze at the table, “I don’t think I’m a good paladin.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just that I’m not really fit for a paladin,” he started rambling, talking as if the moment the words formy in his mind he voiced them, “I mean I’m a coward, constantly scared of everything, I get nervous and I don’t know or like fighting! I’m always thinking what if I can’t do something and it messes up our mission. Everyone else is really good and useful. And I’m just…there. You know?” He looked at her with such big and sad eyes that Allura wanted to hug him and never let go. She was genuinely surprised he thought like that.

“Hunk, none of that is true.” She smiled, hoping it would make him more likely to believe her. “The Yellow Lion wouldn’t have chosen someone unworthy. The paladins of Voltron are the best of the best and if the Lion chose you as it’s paladin then it’s proof that you’re important and valuable. You are loyal and supportive and sweet. Your fear doesn’t make you weak, it makes you brave. It requires true courage to be able to do something despite your fear."

Hunk smiled and averted his eyes. It seemed like not many people told him he was brave.

“And most of the time you’re the team’s voice of reason, getting us to focus on what is really important. You also remind us that not everyone is bad or evil. That the universe has kind people and we just need to find them. In a world of darkness and suffering you remind us to look for the light.”

His eyes danced around, settled at her face for a moment and when he looked at her smile and how genuine it was he looked away. “Thank you, Allura. I needed to hear that.”

She leaned away in her chair and grabbed the last cookie from the plate, “No problem. Also you feed us all some really delicious food. If it weren’t for you we’ll be stuck with Coran’s “healthy” food goo everyday.”

Hunk laughed, “That’s true. Without me you won’t know the happiness that food can bring.”

“Exactly,” Allura chuckled. She brought the cookie in her hand in front of his mouth and said “Now, open up.”

Hunk looked surprised, but didn’t say anything before opening his mouth and taking a large bite of his delicious baking.

******

Allura was surrounded by grass that went on further than her eyes could see and was filled with junniberies. In her lap were a bunch of the flowers and she would occasionally pick one up and run her fingers through the petals. Despite it having the same feel on her skin as the real ones she simply knew and could sense the difference between the real ones and these, created by a simulation.

The paladins had talked about their planet during lunch and halfway along the conversation she had stopped listening and her mind had brought up memories of Altea. She had thought the feeling of loneliness would disappear, but it hadn’t. It had just kept getting stronger and stronger until she had felt a need to be surrounded by a familiar place.

First she had made a simulation of the capital city in Altea, but had quickly changed it to a valley, from where you could see the colorful mountain Enis, when she had felt even worse from being among empty streets and silence in a city where it had used to be swarming with people and noise.

Then she had changed it to her favourite place, the junibery field.

She sat for a long time there, alone. And if the pain of having lost the world she had known made tears stream down her face no one would know.

When she was about to leave the simulation room, the door opened, creating a hole in her fake world, and in stepped Lance.

“Oh, Allura, sorry. Didn’t know you were here,” he apologised, “I’ll come back later, ok?” Not waiting for an answer he turned to go through the door.

“No, Lance, I was just leaving,” she replied.

He turned around. “Ok, then.”

“Did you need something?”

“No, not really,” he replied quickly. Then he stammered “I just….wanted to make a simulation.”

She didn’t think she should pry, but she was curious so she asked “Feeling a little homesick, too?”

He looked to the side and quietly answered with a simple “yeah.”

Lance turned to the little board with buttons that had appeared along with the door and adjusted the details of what kind of simulation he wanted. Once he pressed a final button the surroundings changed; the green grass disappeared and the ground was mostly covered in yellowish sand and in front of her was a big blue expanse of water.

Lance sat down on the sand, arms behind him to support his weight and legs outstretched in front of him, his feet barely avoiding to touch the water.

Allura may have spent more than enough time in the junibery field, but that didn’t mean the loneliness was gone. Maybe she just needed someone to understand how she felt.

That’s why she asked if she may sit with him.

Lance just shrugged and said “Sure.”

She lowered herself on the sand, kneeling next to him, looking straight ahead where one sun was lowering to the horizon and cast a beautiful golden light on the water. The sounds of the waves hitting the shore and the ones the weird small birds flying in the sky were making made her feel peaceful and warm inside.

However Lance was frowning and his eyes were narrowed, their gaze unmoving from the water in front of him. Seeing him like this was the most disorienting for Allura. Lance was always talking, beaming with energy and looked like he was unable to sit in one place for too long. But at this moment he looked like a lonely, wilting flower.

"It's beautiful here," Allura commented, trying to get a conversation going.

Lance's mouth curved slightly upwards, "Yeah it is."

Allura turned her head to look at his face, "But it's not the same as the real place."

His face fell and he nodded.

She knew the feeling. Everything looked right and even sounds were too real, but there was something inside you that discarded everything the simulation showed and labeled it as wrong.

"It is like this," Lance started talking softly and slowly, the exact opposite of his usual personality, "but the sounds are somewhat weird, the ocean's smell could never be replaced and the feeling whenever I dip my feet in the water is completely wrong," he shook his head like trying to shake off that feeling. 

"But the most important thing to me could never be replaced by an image. My family. My mother calling after me and my siblings not to go too deep in the water, as if we are still small kids and are just starting to learn swimming. My father making stupid jokes and bothering me with stories of his childhood. My siblings arguing over the smallest things or always "burrowing" my things, but never returning them." He let out half a laugh. His words suggested that those habits annoyed him, but he talked about them with a fond smile.

"Sounds like a big and happy family," Allura commented with a smile.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "it gets really loud and busy in the house during the holidays."

He sighed and looked up at the sky, "I miss them so much."

Allura's chest tightened at his words and his expression, because she could feel what he was feeling. And since she knew what she would have wanted whenever she was feeling like that, she moved closer to him and put an arm over his shoulders and he leaned on her.

She held him while they watched the sunset.

“Allura, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Lance.”

“This may sound weird, but whenever I or one of my sisters was upset we would take care of that person by doing face masks or doing their make-up or whatever they wanted. So can you do that with me?” without moving his head from atop her shoulder he looked up at her.

She couldn’t tell him no.

They were in Lance’s room. It was a little messy, clothes thrown about and the desk would have been tidy if it weren’t for some crumbs and a big cup with a straw in it, which probably had some of the delicious drink that was made in a disturbing way - the milkshake. However it was more presentable than Pidge’s room.

Lance’s head was in Allura’s lap as she was applying the mask on his face. He talked about his days in the space school called the Galaxy Garrison and the people there he liked or didn’t like. The way he talked, loudly and fast like he was arguing, with his hands moving around he started resembling himself.

After having finished doing his face mask she decided to paint his nails if only to spend more time with him to avoid the crushing loneliness she was sure to feel back in her room.

Lance started telling her stories about his siblings’ practical jokes and how often they annoyed him. Still, not even once did he seem like he disliked any of them.

When Lance started yawning, which was something humans did to signify they were tired and NOT a way to show dominance or aggression (she had learned that the hard way), she realised how tired she was herself. Because of that they agreed it was time for both of them to go to sleep.

Before she exited Lance’s room he called her back.

“I just wanted to thank you for doing this. It means a lot to me.”

She smiled at him. “Anytime, Lance.”

*******

Allura was in the control room working late with Coran, discussing which planets are likely to join the coalition and trying to contact their leaders, when she saw the Red Lion returning from no particular location in deep space and into the hangar. Despite their recent Lion swaps Keith refused to pilot Black.

He was probably still desperately looking for Shiro.

Allura would have given him a lecture if it weren't so late and she knew he probably would have managed to avoid her, so she just let him return to his room.

The next morning all the paladins were present for breakfast.

Except Keith.

Excusing herself she left the dining area to look for the missing paladin and drag him to breakfast if necessary.

She wasn't surprised to find him in the training room. Whenever he wasn't looking for Shiro he was training himself to exhaustion.

She understood he missed him, but, like it or not, he was still the new leader and he needed to take responsibility for it! Everyone missed Shiro and that's why the team now needed him the most!

The bot avoided Keith's attacks and managed to throw him off of his feet. Before Keith could properly gain his footing and attack the bot Allura called "End training simulation!"

When Keith saw her he tensed and slowly got up. He was looking at her with eyes slightly narrowed and arms crossed, gripping his elbows hard. He was preparing for what he knew was coming.

Allura came closer and started scolding him, “Alright Keith, it’s enough! We’ve been patient and waiting until you’re ready to take your new responsibility, but you don’t even want to consider it!”

“Look, Allura I don’t want to talk about this,” he tried to dismiss her, but she wasn’t having it.

“You can’t avoid this! This is your role now! And you’ve been avoiding, not just your responsibility, but the whole team! You’re the leader so start acting like one!”

He snapped.

“I’M NOT A LEADER! SHIRO IS!”

Allura’s heart leapt in her throat and she quickly stumbled backwards. It wasn’t his anger or his words that caused this reaction. It was his eyes changing from white to yellow sclera and his teeth sharpening into fangs. It was the worst fear of a friend turning into your enemy.

Keith was surprised by Allura’s reaction. She wasn’t one to back down because of shouting. And the big, wild eyes were a part of the princess, Keith had never seen. He looked around and then at himself seeing his nails had turned into claws. On instinct he touched his teeth with his tongue and realized what had happened. His Galra side was showing.

The change disappeared in matter of ticks, but it was enough to cause disturbance.

Both were scared.

Both were scared of the same person.

Keith ran out of the training room.

She found him in the hangar. However he wasn't with the Red Lion as she had expected, instead he was sitting in front of Black, a few meters apart, looking up at its face, hugging his drawn up knees to his chest.

Allura approached slowly and sat down next to him. Keith hunched his shoulders and he moved slightly away from her.

Allura felt a pang of guilt.

"I'm sorry about how I reacted," she apologized, because he had looked hurt and scared, "I was taken off guard and it was on instinct."

"It's ok," he was talking quietly, "I don't blame you, I would have been scared too," he let out a huff of air out of his nose, "Heck, I WAS scared! I'm always scared of what I can become."

"What do you mean?" Allura asked, even though she had a suspicion of what he was talking about.

"I'm scared of completely turning Galra and losing control," he explained, not looking at Allura, but at his knees , "At some point Shiro convinced me it was nonsense and everything was fine. But then there were times when I got really angry and some Galra traits appeared. They disappeared soon, I couldn't explain it and I didn't need to, to know that there was a possibility that I may be a danger to the team."

What Allura was hearing made her throat close up from guilt. There was a time when she had believed in the words Keith was saying, and now knowing he had the same fears made her feel awful for ever thinking any of it. Hearing him talk about it made her realize how ridiculous it sounded.

"So whenever I got angry I tried to bury that feeling and when I got the chance I let it all out on a training bot. And sometimes I went to Shiro after that and he managed to calm me. He understood me."

The way he said 'he understood me' sounded as if Shiro was the only one to understand him. And it made sense; Keith was always next to Shiro and he was rarely seen with the other paladins except when they were training together or having a meal. 

Allura also realized she didn't know anything personal about Keith. It shouldn't have surprised her that she hadn't known Keith feared the exact thing she had strongly believed in.

"Keith," she called him and she was relieved he turned his head to look at her, "I'm  _ really _ sorry for the way I avoided you and was cold towards you when you told us you were part galra. I shouldn't have judged you based on something you can't control."

"It's ok-"

"No, it's not," she interrupted firmly. "I've gotten over those feelings and can now realize I was wrong."

Keith nodded, accepting her apology.

"And….." she paused, trying to decide the right words as not to sadden Keith further or give him false hope, "and whenever Shiro is unable to, we, the paladins and I, will be happy to try and understand what you're going through. Does that sound good?"

His lips curved slightly upward, but not quite forming a smile, and whispered, "Yeah. Thank you."

"It's the least we can do."

They continued sitting in the hangar in silence, the Black Lion towering ahead, like it was watching over them.

She glanced at Keith's hunched form and she was extremely aware of how tense he was. When she scooted closer Keith didn't move away so she put her hands on his shoulders and started gently digging her fingers in his skin. She hit a really tense point and he squirmed, but when she asked him if he wanted her to stop he shook his head so she continued. Soon Keith melted next to her. 

When she glanced at his face she saw his eyes were closed and his breathing had slowed.

He had never looked this relaxed.

She stopped her massage and took him in her arms. She carried him in his room and put him on the bed.

It was ridiculous that anyone could think that someone like Keith would ever hurt his friends.

******

Shiro was back!

Allura hadn't believed her eyes when they had found him. She had already counted him as dead and when the other paladins started coming to terms with it too, they found him. 

The only one that hadn't even for a moment considered the possibility that Shiro might be dead was Keith.

Shiro was in a pod and Keith was patiently waiting for him to come out. Once he did Keith didn't leave his side. He took him to Shiro's room, he stayed until he fell asleep and brought him breakfast the next morning. It was like he was afraid that if he left him for too long Shiro would be gone again.

When Allura saw Keith leave Shiro's room she decided it was time she properly checked up on Shiro and welcomed him back.

When Allura entered, Shiro was sitting on the bed, his elbows on his knees and eyes staring at the floor. His hair was still long, but not dirty. Despite resting for a couple of days he still looked tired.

"Finally he has left some of you for the rest of us," she joked to get Shiro's attention.

He turned to look at her and chuckled "What can I say, he's really clingy," he then quickly added, still keeping the joking air, "Don't tell him I said that."

"I won't," she promised. She went to sit next to him on the bed. "It's good to have you back, Shiro," she told him gently, "It was very hard and different without you. We can't wait for things to go back to normal." She said that to make him know that they all depended on him and that he was a really valuable member to the team.

It was supposed to make him feel good.

Instead Shiro's smile fell. He nodded slowly like he was reluctant to accept what she was saying.

Allura frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"

He sighed and opened his mouth, but then closed it and shook his head.

Allura was getting concerned, "Are you not feeling well?"

"No, it's not that. It's- it's nothing."

She went to put a hand on his shoulder, "Shiro, if something is bo-" when her hand touched him he flinched and jerked away from her. Her hand was left hovering in the air as she stared wide eyed at Shiro.

His face was panicked and he quickly started apologizing.

"You don't need to apologize Shiro," she assured him gently as her hand returned in her lap, "You've gone through a lot and you'll need time to recover. It's completely fine."

"But that's the problem!" he said, agitated. "I don't know if I CAN recover anymore. I thought after the first time the galra captured me that would be all and after some time I would go back to normal." he turned his head, avoiding to look at her and instead fix his gaze on a point on the wall in front of him. "But I didn't completely. And now that I've been captured again I feel empty. I feel broken and I don't think I'll ever recover," he clenched his fists. "I can't be a paladin like this. And I'm letting the team down. Like you said, they count on me, but how can I help them when I can't help myself?" he turned his head to her again, and his face was so desperate and helpless it almost made tears form in Allura's eyes, "Things will never go back to normal, because I can't go back to being a paladin."

"No!" Allura almost shouted, "No, don't say that Shiro! It's not true."

"But it is. Soon the others will realize that they don't need me and-"

"How can you say something like that!?" Allura stood up, slightly distressed from what she was hearing. "We need you Shiro! You're a part of this team and I can't believe that you would doubt that!"

"But-"

"But nothing!" she interrupted him, not letting him say anymore negative things about himself. "How can you think like that when you've seen how Keith is acting around you now? He can't leave you for more than five doboshes because he's scared of losing you again! Do you have any idea how hard it was for all of us, especially for him?!" She let out a sob and became aware of the tears gathering in her eyes, but she didn't allow them to fall. She needed to be strong for Shiro now. 

Lowering herself on the bed again, she slowly moved her hands towards his, making sure he was seeing them so she wouldn't take him by surprise. When they were just above his she stopped moving them. At Shiro's nod she gripped his hands in hers.

"Let me tell you something you need to keep in mind," her voice was strong because what she was about to tell him next was important for him to remember it. "You are Takahashi Shirogane. You are the Black Paladin of Voltron. You are a part of our team. You aren't broken and you WILL get better," she kept his gaze on her as she continued speaking the same words. "You are Takahashi Shirogane. You are the Black Paladin of Voltron. You are a part of our team! You aren't broken and you WILL get better!"

She repeated the same sentences again and again, until Shiro had no other choice but to believe in them.

"You will recover, Shiro. It will just take time. And until then, you won't have to go through it alone."

Shiro still looked worn out and tired, but he looked better, less troubled with his own fears and insecurities.

He nodded, "Okay."

If anything that was a start.

******

Allura was utterly destroyed.

She should be happy; they defeated Lotor, defeated the evil clone of Shiro and got the real one back AND found out there were more Alteans left!

But she couldn't.

She was happy to have gained so much with the team, but now she couldn't stop thinking of how much she has lost.

She had trusted Lotor, had even started liking him, and thought she had formed a bond with him and he had betrayed her, making her lose everything she had thought she had. He had even crushed the hope of progress between the galra and other species. It made her feel so stupid and naive!

The Castle of Lions was destroyed and it was like a big assault on her heart. The last part of her childhood was taken away from her. Her home was destroyed in front of her eyes and she couldn't save it.

She had lost so much! 

She couldn't take it anymore!

"Allura can you come down, please?" It was Shiro, he had come in the Blue Lion without her noticing, making her jump.

Since the battle with Lotor they'd been staying on some planet and sleeping in their lions, Romelle with Allura, Krolia with Keith and Coran with Lance. They haven't had the time and energy to make a camp and decided it was safer to stay in the lions.

She turned to Shiro and forced on a smile, even though the only thing she wanted right now was to cry. Cry to wash away the pain, cry until there were no tears left. "Sure Shiro."

She followed him down Blue's open mouth. Judging from the lack of panic in his voice and no noise from the others, she assumed there was nothing to worry about.

It was dark, and even with the little fire that was lit nearby she couldn't see the other paladins until her feet touched the ground. They were all standing next to one another and were looking at her.

"What is going on here?" she asked, their demeanor confusing her. "Should I be concerned?"

"Nope!" Lance answered. He grabbed her hand and pulled her by the fire, "The only thing you need to be right now is relaxed."

Allura screwed up her eyebrows, "What do you mean?" The others came to sit next to her and she looked at each of them, "What's going on?"

"Ever since the last battle," Hunk started, "we've all noticed you haven't been yourself."

"Yeah," Pidge piped in, "you've been all sad and broody and alone. You're stealing Keith's personality!" She said it in a joking manner, but Keith still crossed his arms and grumbled that he didn't brood.

Allura chuckled slightly at that.

"So we made it our mission to un-Keith you!" Lance exclaimed.

"That's not a word, Lance," Keith growled at him.

"Sure, it isn't" Lance replied sarcastically.

This small interaction between them made her feel somewhat grounded and normal. It was something familiar and what she was used to.

"I really appreciate that, but you don't have to.." Allura started to refuse, but Shiro interrupted her by putting a hand on her shoulder making her look up at him, "We want to be here for you, Allura. Just like you were there for us," he said softly. "Isn't that right, guys?" he looked at the others and they all nodded and made affirmative grunts or hums.

All of them looked at her.

"Let us take care of you," Shiro said, smiling gently at her.

"Very well, then, if you insist," she finally agreed.

Apparently they had already planned out what they would do.

First were Pidge and Keith. Pidge told her to sit in front of the fire and look pretty. Then both of them sat behind her.

"I'm not the best at massages, but you definitely need one," Keith said before he put his hands on her shoulders and started moving them.

He was surprisingly gentle. Her muscles started relaxing and her posture was going lax.

When Pidge began brushing her hair Allura melted even further. She was completely immersed in the calming sensations of hands working out the tension in her body and the brush gently scratching her head. The warm fire in front of her and the complete silence the two paladins preferred to work in, added to the relaxing atmosphere.

At some point Pidge started braiding her hair.

By the time the two finished Allura had let her walls weaken.

Then it was Lance's turn.

He sat behind her and told her to lay down. She did and put her head on his lap.

Since most of their belongings had been in the castle and they blew up along with it, Lance used ingredients he got from this planet and Coran approved were safe to make a face mask. While he was preparing the ingredients he asked her to tell him how she was feeling.

“Honestly? Not the best,” her walls were crumbling, she couldn’t keep her feelings in, “I- I can’t stop thinking of everything we’ve lost. Of everything  **_I’ve_ ** lost. First it was my mother. Then my father and my whole planet!” she inhaled to calm her breaths, but it only made her sob. “Now I lost Lotor, who I thought understood me and would help me bring change to the universe, and the castle, my ho-home-” she hiccuped, “- my home, the last connection to my childhood is gone!” she sniffed and her breaths were coming out short and fast.

When her breathing calmed enough to talk, she greeted through her teeth, “I’m tired of losing the things and people I care about!”

Lance's hands came down on her cheek and wiping away the tears that she hadn’t noticed were furiously streaming down her face.

She whispered, “I’m so tired. You know?”

Lance whispered back “I know,” he started rubbing the mask on her face. “But now it’s all over.”

Yes, it was over.

When he finished putting on the mask, he told her to sit up and Hunk and Shiro came to sit in front of her. There was a plate of her favourite cookies between them.

“I remembered that you liked these,” Hunk explained, “so I made you some.”

Before she could take one, Hunk grabbed a cookie and brought it to her mouth. She was a little hesitant to eat like that, but then she figured that today was for her to be taken care of, a moment for her to do nothing, and took a bite of the cookie.

With one arm Shiro took her hand in his and with the other he traced it up and down her arm. She liked the pleasant touch, but that wasn’t the only thing Shiro was there to do.

“Allura,” he spoke gently, “you’ve lost so much, yet you still give even more. Whenever someone needs to be comforted or needs help you’re always there to do whatever you can. You always think of others; the team, the universe, everyone. But you don’t think much of yourself,” she looked at his eyes, making her completely focus on his face, not letting her turn away to avoid the truth he was telling her, “You also deserve good things. You deserve comfort and care. You deserve the things you give to others and we’re here to give you all of that.”

His words and the acts of the whole team touched her soul and heart and as her walls turned to dust she couldn’t keep herself from throwing her body at Shiro and clutching at him.

She vaguely heard Lance yell “group hug!” before the others embraced her and each other. 

In this moment she felt secure and cared for.

She felt like she had everything she needed.

The arms around her tightened and she had never wished more to stay somewhere longer than she did now.

She sobbed in Shiro’s chest and managed to choke out, “Thank you.”

When the hug ended they still didn’t separate. Instead they laid down on the ground, Hunk and Shiro on one side and Keith, Lance and Pidge on her other side, their limbs intertwining with no space between any of them. The closest ones to her gently moved their hand up and down her arms and back and she did the same in return. They were in a big pile on the ground, taking comfort in each other’s presence and looking up at the countless stars.

The universe was huge. And they were so small in comparison. Just a few people from countless others.

But no matter how much she traveled, how much she looked she would never find someone or something as precious and as beautiful as the bond she shared with her paladins.

Allura fell asleep like that, among the people she cared for the most.

And sometime in the night Coran came from between the lions, that had formed a protective circle around the sleeping paladins, to put out the little campfire and to cover them all with a big and fluffy blanket.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was kind of long.  
> I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Feedback is appreciated and so is criticism (but don't be mean)! Feel free to tell me what you liked and didn't like.
> 
> I also have a Tumblr and Instagram if you want to chat or something.
> 
> I hope I'll be able to finish my next entry for day 3 of gentron. Hopefully I'll see you then!


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